Acceptable!

Acceptable!

Do not forget or neglect to do kindness and good, to be generous and distribute and contribute to the needy [of the church as embodiment and proof of fellowship], for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Hebrews 13:16 AMPC

Context:

There is really no name indicated at the start of Hebrews to let us know who wrote it, but it is generally attributed to Paul. All of life, both earthly and heavenly, is addressed in one form or another in the book of Hebrews, and in today's extract, we see God's view of the life he has both called us out of and into. 

God never leaves us in doubt as to what his expectations for us are. He does not leave us to grope in the dark or to strive for acceptance on our own terms, but he provides the strength and grace we need for the journey ahead. 

Message and Response:

We are enjoined not to forget to do kindness and good. It means that it is possible I could forget, or I could get carried away with the daily grind of life that I forget to impact the world I have been placed in. And it is specific: I do not get to do whatever catches my fancy, but that which aligns with what God intends. 

I was placed on earth to impact earth. I cannot be so focused on heaven that I am irrelevant down here on earth. Of what use in heaven is a life that earth does not recognise or been impacted by its message? How does God take glory from a life that does not speak of him in any way? I must take stock again right now: who am I living for? Who do I seek to glorify by the way I live my life? 

Check out the words: be generous, distribute, contribute to the needy. That is the summary of my expected impact. It is to be an outflow from my life out of the abundance of the inflow of the life of God in me. I was not made to be like the Dead Sea, always receiving from other sources of water, but never flowing out anywhere. It will lead to a stink, because it is in flowing out that God keeps his unction fresh in my life. I was not made to be a vessel that only takes in, but also a fountain and a spring. This is why the water that Jesus promises is that which becomes a spring of loving water flowing unto eternal life. 

The church is the mirror of God's mind. It is the place of the physical manifestation of the presence of God. As we all live the life of God, we make God known. The world will only get to know God when we make Him known, and what better way can we do this than when the world sees something different from what it is comfortable with? The message of Christ must make the world uncomfortable and seek to know why we are different. If it is the same as what the world does, then it cannot be of God.

No wonder the passage ends with the word of encouragement that God is pleased with sacrifices that impact the world we have been placed in. It must cost me something; it must take something from me, and it must make me seek higher and nobler things which make God glad. Can God keep blessing the work of my hand as it is presently constituted? Is that which is in my hand right now that which God can bless? If it is not, it is not too late to make changes and get it right. If it is, keep at it. God is not a debtor, and he rewards everyone who seeks him the right way. May the Lord accept my sacrifice and may he be pleased  with me. His time of favour is here.